Tag Archives: German Aerospace Center

What does a marsquake look and feel like?

Southern California got all shook up after a set of recent quakes. But Earth isn’t the only place that experiences quakes: Both the Moon and Mars have them as well. NASA sent the first seismometer to the Moon 50 years … Continue reading

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InSight: Uncovering ‘the Mole’

Behold the “mole”: The heat-sensing spike that NASA’s InSight lander deployed on the Martian surface is now visible. Last week, the spacecraft’s robotic arm successfully removed the support structure of the mole, which has been unable to dig, and placed … Continue reading

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A rover for Phobos and Deimos

Mars has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos. These are the target of the Japanese Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, which also involves international partners. Scheduled for launch in 2024, it will enter Mars orbit in 2025, and return samples … Continue reading

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InSight: Getting the Mole moving again

Scientists and engineers have a new plan for getting NASA InSight’s heat probe, also known as the “mole,” digging again on Mars. Part of an instrument called the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3), the mole is a self-hammering … Continue reading

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InSight’s dusty selfie

This is NASA InSight’s second full selfie on Mars. Since taking its first selfie, the lander has removed its heat probe and seismometer from its deck, placing them on the Martian surface; a thin coating of dust now covers the … Continue reading

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InSight: Sunrise and sunset on Mars

NASA’s InSight lander captured a series of sunrise and sunset images. A camera on the spacecraft’s robotic arm snapped the photos on April 24 and 25, the 145th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. In local Mars time, the … Continue reading

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InSight: First likely marsquake detected

NASA’s Mars InSight lander has measured and recorded for the first time ever a likely “marsquake.” The faint seismic signal, detected by the lander’s Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) instrument, was recorded on April 6, the lander’s 128th Martian … Continue reading

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InSight: More testing for the ‘mole’

Updated at 5 p.m. PDT (8 p.m. EDT) on April 11: InSight’s Heat and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument completed a new round of diagnostic hammering into the Martian surface on March 26, 2019, while the spacecraft’s seismometer listened in. … Continue reading

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Can organisms survive on Mars, and can we identify them?

Earth is a very special planet. It is the only celestial body in the Solar System on which we know life exists. Could there be life on other planets or moons? Mars is always the first to be mentioned in … Continue reading

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InSight: Lander’s ‘mole’ pauses digging

NASA’s Mars InSight lander has a probe designed to dig up to 16 feet (5 meters) below the surface and measure heat coming from inside the planet. After beginning to hammer itself into the soil on Thursday, Feb. 28, the … Continue reading

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